Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Ode to the Fiber Fest

Crispy weather now beckons me back to the Barn.

Barn Yarn that is.

And once I got there, it was a case of Lost and Found! Now who (or maybe How/Why/WTF) would lose yarn? (Now we’re not talking about the naughty projects that might have landed under the sofa or the mis-dyed skanks, ah skeins that find their way into Closet Oblivion.)

But I digress – I am going up to Michigan the week after next and those Sirens are a callin’ – the very same sirens that make me make Holiday Sweaters are now hammerin’ on me to make a nice little casual Walking the Dog Sweater.

SO I’m makin’ a Wool Scoop du Jour.

AND because I could only find SOME of the yarn that I thought would be nice, I’m combining it with some other yarn and it will be two-toned: Dark Olive and Natural Sheep Grey.

And here’s where the Ode to the Fiber Fest begins – this is typical yarn that you will find all over the country from yer MomEtPop herders. I believe there are only so many mills that spin! SO regionally, you have places where everyone brings their fleece after shearing and it magically twists up into wonderful 2 and 3-ply Barn Yarn!

The Natural Grey (actually looks very brown to me) Worsted is from Chester Farms, in Virginia. I saw them first at Maryland Sheep and Wool – their booth one of the first you find after you entered (2004) and it was stacked to the rafters with yarny goodness. Carolyn got some, I believe, pretty lilac wool cotton. I left empty handed but wandered round and round and round enthralled by the yarny wooly smell…

I did fall into their black hole, mail orderstyle, this late summer – got some black too! Gonna make a Black Aran Cardi (quick call the Priest – if we start the Exorcism now, we will save Time later!)

The Dark Olive is this
from one of my first dyeing attempts, back in November of last year. I have LOST TWO SKEINS of this yarn (seen here pre-dyed, in its natural Barney state). If you see it wandering around in a field at Rhinebeck, please email me here…

I just dug some of the Cestari pencil roving out of my stash for a spinning class that I taught tonight. I did not know that it wouldn’t felt until after I bought it. The roving does make a mighty fine yarn :)